What it costs to drive from Joburg to Durban at R21 per litre

We’re officially in the final stretch of 2025, which means the weather is warm and many Gauteng households are no doubt planning to make trips down to the coast to make the most of it.

Of course, you’ll need to factor the cost of fuel into your travel budget, as anyone thinking of driving down to Durban in the near future can expect to spend a minimum of R1,930.60.

City to coast at R21 per litre

We used central Gauteng as a starting point to measure the route down to Durban, which clocks in at roughly 584km with a travel time of six hours.

Next, we need the cost of fuel, which is currently sitting at R21.62 per litre for petrol 95 inland rates, based on the latest fuel price adjustments that took effect at the start of October.

We can use then this information to calculate the cost of the drive down to the coast, based on a car’s fuel efficiency.

Unfortunately, petrol isn’t the only expense we need to worry about, as there are five toll plazas on the road down to Durban

These are up-to-date fees for each of the toll booths following the latest adjustments from March 2025:

• Mooi – R67
• Wilge – R90
• Tugela – R96
• De Hoek – R65
• Marian Hill – R16

All told, we’re looking at a toll bill of R334 for a one-way trip.

If we add this to our fuel tab, we can see that motorists will have to spend a minimum of R965.30 to get from Joburg to Durban, assuming they have a fuel-efficient car that averages 5.0l/100km.

Looking at the other end of the spectrum, individuals with a thirsty set of wheels will need to budget roughly R1,975.39 to make the trip.

Bear in mind this is only for the drive to Durban, which means we need to double these figures to get the total cost for a return trip.

In other words, it will cost anywhere from R1,930.60 to R3,950.78 to drive to the coast and back, based on the current price of petrol.